Article by Felicity Harding. Photo by the State Cloud State University Athletics Department.
16 inches tall. 40 pounds of bronze and etched acrylic. Originated in Minnesota. Originally carved by a Minnesota native. An honor. Something few players can say they have been nominated for. The original casting sits on display in St. Paul, Minn. at the Xcel Energy Center. The most distinguished award in college hockey. The Hobey Baker Award.
While only one player wins it every year and not many players can say they were nominated for it, three Huskies can now say that they are Hobey Baker nominees. Those being sophomore goaltender Isak Posch, sophomore forward Barrett Hall, and freshman forward Austin Burnevik.
“It’s obviously an honor. There’s a lot of good players in the country nominated for [the Hobey Baker]. To be associated with an award like that is an honor for sure,” said Burnevik.
The Huskies are one of 15 schools who have three players nominated for the Hobey this year. While there are quite a few schools who have three nominees, there are not a lot of schools who have three underclassmen nominees. St. Cloud is one of three schools with all underclassmen nominees with one freshman and two sophomores. The other two schools are North Dakota, who has one freshman and two sophomores, and Boston College, who has three sophomores.
“I think it’s a big honor for our program and for those guys. To see three of them, especially three young guys, two sophomores and a freshman, it’s a really special group of guys and a group of guys that are going to be big parts of this program for the future and we’re all really proud of them,” said Huskies Head Coach Brett Larson.
Freshman forward Austin Burnevik currently has 11 goals and 10 assists for 21 points in 25 games. Burnevik leads the team in goals and points and is second in assists. He has also been named NCHC Rookie of the Week twice this season.
Prior to his injury, sophomore goaltender Isak Posch played in 13 games for the Huskies putting up a record of 9-4-0. He had a goals against average of 1.68 and a save percentage of .938 after saving 334 of 356 shots faced. Posch won NCHC Goaltender of the Week three times this season and was also named the NCHC October Goalie of the Month. His goals against average and save percentage are still ranked No. 5 in the nation.
Sophomore forward Barrett Hall currently has five goals and 13 assists for 18 points in 26 games this season. Hall currently leads the team in assists and is second on the team in points.
While some players may go through a slump their sophomore year, Barrett Hall is not as he has continued to excel on the ice while improving areas such as his skating and confidence.
“Going from a freshman to a sophomore you gain a lot of confidence through that season and you learn a lot. I think that’s been the biggest thing, I’ve taken steps with confidence and learned a lot last year,” Hall said, “Obviously, you want to focus on everything and grow overall as a player but I’d say probably my skating has improved the most.”
While the Hobey Baker is an award given out to an individual player, It takes more than just the player excelling at their game to be nominated for this award. It takes the team behind them as well.
“Of course, it’s honorable, but at the same time I always see it as a good goalie relies on a good team so I see it as a team thing. The more players we have up there the better of a year we would have,” said Isak Posch.
“I think we have a lot of skilled, great players. I give a lot of credit to them. The players around me make me better as well as I try to make them better,” said Burnevik.
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